Briss Phoenixheart
Briss Phoenixheart, the Mystic Knight, is a proud mercenary. He was previously a valued member of one of SAVAGE's special ops teams, the Alvia Group, in Maar Sul before becoming a private military contractor and part-time treasure hunter. His mother has passed away, and he had one brother, Sajon Phoenixheart, whom the Totenkopfs murdered. The status of his father, Justinius Aurelius Phoenixheart, is unknown since he has been working with top levels of government in Myridia. Briss is also a member of the Fellowship of Maar Sul but left the main group during the Battle of Vanna to ostensibly defect to the Crimson Coalition although his real goal was to actually disrupt the Totenkopfs' plans from the inside. His dealings brought him to Alent where he's now working with the Vulfsatz although he's also trying to give information to the Alliance via subtle means without tipping off the Coalition. Biography Early Years Living in Eest Briss Phoenixheart's father Justinius Aurelius Phoenixheart was part of a rebel warrior clan who wanted to overthrow the government in Aison before the Grey Cult appeared. They were unsuccessful, but this is where he learned to use the Twin Butterfly Swords. The group was disbanded and he settled down in Eest, having Sajon Phoenixheart and four years later, Briss. The family lived a normal life, and Briss's father worked in Eest as an assistant defence advisor. There was lack of education in the family so the father taught aggressive hand-to-hand combat and how to wield the Twin Butterfly Swords to the brothers. Sajon was older and would always beat up Briss. However, Briss began showing far more aggression when he turned 12 (probably due to losing when he was young) and outdid Sajon more and more often. Sajon lost taste in martial pursues and ceased to practice after he was in his late teens. Briss practiced a lot by going into the country to hunt etc. This is where he gained all his tracking/navigational/stalking type skills. When Briss was 15ish, there were signs of a new war erupting around Aison. To avoid a clashing society, the family decided to move into the territory held by the Grand Alliance and headed west into Remon past the Yamatian blockade. At about the same time their father was offered to be the Regional Defence Advisor in Myridia. The goodbyes were said, sad, cry, weeping etc. Training in Maar Sul They got over it. They travelled into Remon and hanged around the countryside for a while, discovering the world outside Eest. The mother decided for the boys to move to Maar Sul where there was an education program, and which was a relatively stable nation after the Grand Alliance had helped liberate it from Yamatian rule. It might have been too late for Sajon, but Briss could still salvage a few years in school. Living in Maar Sul, the family picked up the land's traditions and customs. Sajon worked for a merchant to get money and then opened his own small store in Maar Sul City. There was a group of people at Briss' school that took him as an outsider at first, but then he slowly seduced the girls and got them on his side. The guys got intimidated, but he made friends with them. The leader of the group got even more offended and on the last day of education school he challenged Briss to fight. Briss got beaten by the guy and lost taste in physical fighting so he went on to study at the Maar Sulais school of magics. His mother told him to major in white magic, and he said ok but he signed on for black magic studies instead. While there, he took an interest to the proud Maar Sulais knights who would come in for accelerated courses in magic defence. It was then that he quit and joined the Maar Sulais knighthood at the age of 20. At first Briss used the Twin Butterfly Swords as his primary weapon, but he learned that they were better used domestically as it was hard to pierce armour. In complete opposite to this, he chose the great sword. Briss wasn't the typical knight as he engulfed his swords with magic which he had learned at the school in order to make his strikes more effective. When he was 22, his commander suggested that he should go to a selection phase. It turned out to be SAVAGE. Briss passed selection and began operating within the ranks of the elite. Briss's operations were kept to Maar Sul, Scundia and sometimes Libaterra as Maar Sul wished to gather intel on the world which had changed in the aftermath of the Cataclysm. He excelled as an operator and was sent to the Alvia Group, which numbered only 5 members at the time. But Briss wanted to see more. By this time, Sajon's shop had turned into the mystical items store it is known as today. Taking admiration to the treasures there, the 25-year-old Briss finished his military contract and became a Private Military Contracter and treasure hunter. Journeyman The first place Briss was curious about was the ancient underground ruins of Maar Sul City. In one dome he found a sword engulfed in shadow. Five shadow beasts appeared and attempted to kill Briss. He defeated them with the greatsword engulfed in fire. When they were defeated, the fire he had used was merged onto the shadow sword. Briss took it and named it Shadame, Greatsword of Shadow and Flame. He was employed by Maar Sul as a mercenary rather than a soldier this time to conduct surveillance of Scundia and to infiltrate Libaterra through a woman to learn how powerful they were. His Libaterran missions were unsuccessful, but he brought back prime intel on Scundia and the occasional demon activities in Southern Libaterra. Before leaving Vanna, Briss was asked by Sultana Adela al-Saif to assassinate a demon who was hurling information about Libaterra back to Yamato. This demon was all over the place, but Briss finally caught up to him and slew him in the process. He received many scars during the fight so he took the demon's chain from around his neck and put it on his own as a memory of his most near-death battle. Briss then worked for Adela and helped rebuild Vanna, forming a somewhat unofficial relationship with her. They spent many secret nights together, but for some reason Adela never became pregnant. Briss left once Vanna was rebuilt, and Adela offered to help him if he ever needed it. Ominous Signs Briss wanted to go back to Sanae and learn more about the elves. SAVAGE asked him to do one more mission in Scundia and he accepted. Just as he finished, he was caught and had to flee. One of the Scundian mages tried to use a capture spell but was so stupid that he accidentally used a transportation spell and sent Briss into an unknown room. At the head of the room was a pedestal with a seer orb, a rare treasure. As Briss touched it, he was immediately surrounded by figures who wore skull masks and who were dressed in black. Without warning they launched powerful magic at him. They bombarded him with ruthless magic, burning and demolishing his body. Briss ran and barely escaped. The last thing he heard was "Zenobia, remember that man". After Briss had been doing private military work for three years and turned 28, he returned to his Maar Sulais country only to find it infested with Proninist forces who had recently begun an invasion of the Maar Sulais countryside. He would have helped in Maar Sul but his trip to Sanae had been put off long enough. While Maar Sul struggled against the Proninists, Briss lived in Sanae with the elves and learned their customs and traditions. When he heard of the Grand Alliance being revived a year later and that they intended to lead a united force from Remon to aid Maar Sul, he wanted to be a part of it since he had otherwise been occupied during the previous war and because he felt it was time to finally aid his countrymen in their struggle. Godslayer Era A Game of Deception Briss entered the city of Remonton to listen to the representatives of different cities during the Remonton Summit. He talked directly with Count Belial de Ardyn who was one of the Maar Sulais representatives in the meeting. After learning that the Proninists were now besieging the city of Maar Sul itself and had proven themselves to be a far greater threat than he had assumed, Briss left Remonton and headed for his home on his horse, Prancer. After crossing the mountain pass and border, he noticed the numerous amount of port towns which were being occupied by the Proninist forces. Using skills he perfected in SAVAGE training and his own prowess, he burned down the main warehouses in each port town, forcing the Proninists stationed there to retreat to the main area of operations. Briss was taking large amounts of gold coins from the warehouses and on one occasion was ambushed at his observation post by a hooded figure. After knocking the mugger to the floor, the figure was revealed to be a blonde, female elf named Tiyana Natiya. Briss decided to allow her to travel with him on his horse to Maar Sul since she had no money. When Briss arrived, he was offered a top secret, high priority job by his former employers, only this time he would be personally travelling with SAVAGE's spymaster, Steve, former head of Covert Operations, Alistair Wisteria, a mysterious bard who Briss now knows as Leon Alcibiates, the Scundian King Khasra Mallorein III himself and four other SAVAGE members. To collect full payment, Briss would have to ensure the arrival to the World Tree, travel in Folsworth Woods and keep the group safe the whole way through. Alistair said that Briss was chosen because of the impressive dossier the Covert Operations held on him. Before leaving, Briss seduced and slept with Tiyana. He gave her one of his rings that he thought did nothing for him. Echoes of War By the end of the previous chapter, Briss had been travelling with Khasra's party. They reached Port Dunross where Briss realised that Oswald Flynn, the one who had organised their crossing into Libaterra, was not who he seemed or said he was. Briss kept this to himself, however, hoping he would have a plan if something went wrong. In Trinity Gask, Briss helped resupply the carriage and did not stay back to fight the pursuing Mullencamp force although he regretted not staying behind to help his comrades. Meanwhile, the ring that Briss had given to Tiyana seemed to possess magical properties that did not serve in the best interests of the dark group, the Totenkopfs. Two red mages were sent to assassinate her, but Briss' older brother Sajon, who had been recently aquinted with her, arrived just in time to help her escape. Although Tiyana escaped unscathed, Sajon was captured, tortured by the Totenkopf interrogator and beheaded from a meat hook in the ceiling. When the party arrived in Alent and met with the mage Josiah Amdusias, Briss enquired about increasing his magic potential. Josiah explained that someone like Briss could never fully understand the flows of magic because the type of magic Briss wanted was only going to "hurt people". Nevertheless, Briss was taught a concentration exercise that he has been practicing but with little results. Briss disliked the attitude of Alent's Archmage Jemuel, yet felt powerful magic flowing from both him and his yellow-robed advisor Drishnek. The next morning Briss learned of his brother's death in the hands of the Totenkopfs from a fellow merchant in one of Alent's stores. He has told himself that he will torture and kill the Totenkopf who had killed his one and only brother. A couple nights later Briss and his party were ambushed in their inn by the lich Drishnek who was bent on killing Leon. The group managed to escape the inn but were caught by the lich. A fight followed and things looked grim when the Vulfsatz showed up to also kill the party. The battle evened out when three paladins arrived to battle with Drishnek. Khasra won the battle when he stabbed Drishnek with his holy sword, and the Vulfsatz retreated at this point. A Crimson Dawn The party escaped Alent in the confusion of the battle with Drishnek. They travelled through Vanna to resupply where Briss used his old contacts to buy food and water with cheaper prices than usual. The party continued the journey and reached the Yamatian border some time later. Not long after crossing the border, the party was ambushed by a group of Akai Tora, also known as the Red Tigers, who had been fighting against the demons of the north for years. They required the group to meet with their Shogun, Hiroshi Takamoto. Takamoto and the Forgotten gave the ultimatum of co-operation or death. The party co-operated with the Akai Tora's plan to defeat the demons at Vulpengaard Keep, thus re-taking their fort while Khasra was sent into Xar Daeon to defeat the source of the demons' regeneration power. Briss participated in the bloody and tiring battle until Khasra was successful which weakened and disoriented the demons at Vulpengaard enough for the Akai Tora to finish them off. Soon after, Gwydion disguised himself as Leon and Steve in an attempt to assassinate the Shogun. He was caught, perhaps on purpose, and the party was imprisoned along with him. As Steve was taken away to be killed, the five paladins from Alent suddenly appeared inside their holding cell and got them out. Khasra rescued Steve and the team was teleported away from Vulpengaard Keep toward the Silverbranch Tree. Upon arrival, Steve regained his memories at long last and was revealed to be Despard Silverbranch reborn. Leon gained what he needed from mysterious characters who turned out to be the the merged spirits of Grady Silverbranch and the former Maar Sulais prince Geraud Aurelac. They instructed Leon and the others to use the new Silver Branch with caution to cure the Blood Fever because it might have unforseen consequences. It turned out that they would also need the power of Dawn and Dusk if they wished to cure the Blood Fever, so the spirit of Grady opened a portal which would take the group to the current wielder of Dawn, Axikasha Keiran. The Vulfsatz appeared at this time and attempted to kill the party before they could leave. Steve, now as Despard, defeated their leader Orestes, and the fellowship and the Alentian paladins stepped into the portal that would take them to their next destination. Tears of the Sun Briss and his companions walked through the portal that Grady Silverbranch had opened at the Silverbranch Tree and the next thing they knew was a wooden planked floor. The transportation had taken them to a ship that was full of colourful characters. They were immediately surrounded by these people who seemed to recognize Leon. The leader of the ship's crew, Axikasha Keiran, wanted to know who exactly the rest of the fellowship members were and what they were doing onboard her ship. Ismail gave Briss a funny look on board the ship as Briss resembled Ismail's son Razoul, although Briss didn't make the connection until later. The two groups travelled to Vanna with Ax and Khalid al-Saif's group whose aim was to overthrow Sultana Adela al-Saif, Briss's ex-lover. When they met with the Sultana, the goddess Artemicia appeared and gave the group the task of bringing back the head of the Sirithai leader if Khalid were to challenge Adela's position. She then locked Khalid, as well as Xerathas d'Zarnagon into a large hourglass filled with sand, putting a time limit on the task. After an aggressive journey into Sirithai lands, the party found itself in the arena of the lizarfolk. The god Shakkan demanded they pass a test if negotiations were to be made. Plushiebunny was released and the group readied themselves. Briss helped in the battle by chopping off Plushibunnies paw. After the Blades' mages finished off the bunny, Awar shocked everyone when he trapped Shakkan inside a shard of Krystallopyr and teleported away, revealing himself as an agent working for Adela and Grand Vizier Iblis al-Djinn. The Black Guard then appeared in the arena to kill the remaining Sirithai and Ronove but were slaughtered by the party. The Sirithai leader, Qadohi, agreed to follow the team back to Vanna along with her army of lizardmen so they could stop the reforging of the weapon Krystallopyr and save Khalid as well s put an end to Adela's reigh or terror. The Winds of Wrath When the team arrived in Vanna they made some preperations. Briss accompanied the teams to Adela's throne room and soon, a fight followed after some conversation. Totenkopfs, along with Black Guard appeared, so, in order to avenge his brother, Briss engaged the Totenkopfs. When the Grand Alliance had the upper hand and Khalid and Ismail had defeated Adela and Razoul, respectively, the Sultana shouted to Briss to save her and that she would reward him. In a subtle way, Briss calmed Khalid down with help from Ismail and thus had Adela imprisoned in which he would break her out later. Later that night, during the Festival of the Dead, Briss prepared some crude explosives and walked into the unguarded palace. He successfully got Adela out of her cell only to be met by two Totenkopf assassins. One of the Alliance members, Jono Renfield, appeared and engaged the assassins while Adela compromised with them, allowing the duo to escape and meet with another Totenkopf, Zenobia, who had been tasked to help Briss lead Adela to safety. Although the Alliance view Briss's actions as treason, Briss had his reasons. He needed to convince Adela, and hopefully the Coalition, that he had really defected from the Alliance so that he'd get into the Coalition's good graces and hopefully learn more about the Totenkopfs' plans and disrupt Coalition operations from within. It was a risky gamble, but in Briss's view it would be worth it to turn the tide of the war on the Alliance's favour. Sowing Season Briss travelled with Adela and Zenobia into Central Libaterra. From here they encountered some Alentian patrols and had to be very careful crossing the river, almost getting caught. After another encounter on the other side of the river, this time with General Leopold Lain and the Crimson Coalition, Briss, along with his party were taken to Trinity Gask to meet Warlady Glaurung Losstarot. During this journey they ended up accompanying another group of Alliance defectors which included Jono, Vaetris Redfield and a boy who turned out to be Glaurung's son Hannibal Losstarot. Briss's group eventually reached Trinity Gask where they had a brief discussion with Glaurung who was happy to see her son back before they were escorted to appropriate inns. It was during this time that Briss was reunited with none other than Tiyana Natiya who revealed she was heavy with his child and that she was now working for the Dark Elves and their leader, Lord Kamelith, who were collaborating with the Coalition. This piece of news surprised Briss who began re-evaluating his position while he bonded with Tiyana. He ended up participating in a battle against a group of demon bounty hunters who tried to capture Jono. In the end he, Jono, Glaurung, Arthur Fonzarelli, Ted and Grace Ripley succeeded in defeating the attackers and their leader, Saleos. Devourer's Reach After the battle with the demons was over, Fonzie, Briss and Jono sat in a local tavern and discussed various things, including which Alliance members had accompanied Briss to Trinity Gask. Glaurung Losstarot was kidnapped by a mysterious party soon after, much to everyone's surprise, and Briss found out the Alliance might've been responsible although he doubted it. A Cry in the Dark In order to prove that he was loyal to the Coalition, Briss was sent with a group, which included the Vulfsatz, Saleos and Zenobia, to track down Glaurung Losstarot who had been kidnapped by a mysterious party. The group ended up in Alent where they met with Varalia Earthhaven and, much to Briss's surprise, the Alliance's well-known companion Jonathan Ferron who proposed that the Vulfsatz collaborate with a local branch of Nightstalkers to aid them in their task. Donovan and Briss met with the Nightstalkers' Alentian boss, Royt, and began negotiations. Deceiver's Gambit More info later. Aliases and Nicknames ; Briss : Briss naturally goes by aliases when travelling in foreign countries and gives fakes name to people he may meet in town or anywhere else. He usually gives his real name to people he knows he can eventually trust. ; Flame of the Battlefield : What many past enemies and battlefield comrades call him. ; Mystic Boy : A playful nickname given to Briss by Khasra Mallorein III. ; Shadow of Fire : Nickname given to him by fellow SRT operators after he obtained Shadame. Appearance Short styled black hair with a long tail from the back, olive tanned skin, brown eyes that become fiery during a rage. Little unshaven facial hair (unless at a formal area). Stands at 5'9". He is leanly muscular and has some battle scars. Briss's travelling and casual clothes consist of cream coloured travelling pants, brown 'all terrain durable' boots, leather armour under a black long sleeved shirt with top two buttons undone. He carries a noble brown cloak from Maar Sul. Assuming Briss has time to get ready for battle, he would wear the pants and boots from above, a full body plate which has attached shoulder guards (so additional shoulder guards do not reduce movement or agility), iron greaves and a phoenix design helmet. No matter which attire he chooses, he also wears a golden chain with a cross pendant, iron armguards, fingerless gloves, several heirloom and purchased rings, a belt with attached parts to hold greatsword and iron shinguards under pants. Briss wears expensive travelling attire such as a designer black shirt. He has black plate armour with gold trims and a phoenix-design helmet he made himself (Phoenixheart). He always wears his gold chain, arm-guards and heirloom/purchased rings. Briss is equipped with: Shadame, Greatsword of Shadow & Flame, Twin Butterfly Swords (one hidden in each boot), and leather armour underneath his shirt. Personality and Traits Briss is a good guy, looks out for his comrades. His heart sometimes gets the better of him even though he knows he's failing his mind. He becomes very focused on the task at hand but when there is no task he gets into a careless mood. He loves to challenge himself with tasks that seem harder for others. He always wants as much information as possible before executing an operation. Briss would rather manipulate to his own causes then use force, however more so, he uses force due to his aggressive nature. He has an uncanny ability to get women. He is on the side of Light, has ambitions to destroy the dark and will not hesitate to deal and mix with it to win in the long run. Briss has always lived his life by one principle: What's done is done, just do what you gotta do. Powers and Abilities Briss is a master of wielding the Twin Butterfly swords, he has profiecient skill with his greatsword, Shadame but is not an expert. He is also able to make use of any other weapon he may acquire. He has a beginner's knowledge of black magic, and a refined skill to engulf his blades with this magic, giving him a better chance against more powerful and stronger opponents. He also possesses an instictive ability to "read" behavioural characteristics. The following skills were received when Briss's was trained and operated with SAVAGE, SRT and Alvia Group. It should be noted that other SAVAGE and SRT operatives possess more or less of the same skills. Briss is able to hunt, stalk, and survive in the wilderness by himself in any climate. He is adept at unarmed, martial arts fighting. He is well informed in explosives and their application, as well as producing them. He has a small knowledge of engineering, having once built a crude magic-magnetic field out of a gem communicator. Briss is versed with how police and various government agencies typically operate and conduct operations, and he knows how to impersonate them. Briss is a master of escape, evasion and silent movement. Lastly, he is an expert in skills looked down upon by the Maar Sulais law such as lock-picking and breaking into standard magic-safe security systems. Relationships Adela al-Saif During the Great War, Briss was employed by Adela al-Saif to hunt down a demon spy. He had a relationship with her, it is a dormant one but he has the connections if neccessary. Alistair Wisteria Alistair became aware of Briss when Briss took a mercenary mission for SAVAGE and opened a dossier on him. After Briss's apparent defection to the Coalition, Alistair has apparently seen through his ruse and is willing to contact him in secret although he remains skeptic about him in general as he knows the temptation of the enemy can be big for a double agent. Despard Silverbranch Despard/Steve knows who Briss is as he is the Director of SRT. Briss was part of SRT during his time in SAVAGE. This was the reason as to why Despard/Steve recruited Briss for the fellowship. The two of them got along well, but Despard remains unaware of Briss's recent little scheme within the Coalition as he was injured during battle and returned to Maar Sul prior to the second phase of the Battle of Vanna. Justinius Aurelius Phoenixheart Briss's father. Last contact was at Briss' mothers funeral. This is because Justinius is Myridia's Regional Defence Minister. Sajon Phoenixheart Briss's brother. He was murdered by the Totenkopfs and is the motivation behind Briss's Totenkopf hunting ambitions. Tiyana Natiya Briss's relationship with Tiyana Natiya may have been a short one, and yet it is unknown whether either feel any romantic feelings for each other. She is heavy with his child. After their reunion in Trinity Gask during which Briss learned that Tiyana would be giving birth to their baby, he has grown fonder of her. See also *Adela al-Saif *Alvia Group *Fellowship of Maar Sul *Phoenixheart Clan *Prancer *SAVAGE *Shadame, Greatsword of Shadow & Flame *Tiyana Natiya Category:Aison Category:Characters Category:Fellowship of Maar Sul Category:Grand Alliance Category:Humans Category:Maar Sul (faction) Category:Phoenixheart Clan Category:SAVAGE Category:Third Age